Bought a dog - no paperwork - previous owners want to visit...

StarCrossed

Hiya,

This is a bit complicated so I'll try and explain it as simply as I can.

We bought a dog two weeks ago who we adore.

He is originally from abroad and was advertised as a pedigree - but the breeder in Spain hasn't sent paperwork (We don't care at all about this).

He was adopted by a British woman living in abroad . (Call her A)

She moved back to the UK and paid for him to have a pet passport, rabies shots etc. Obviously this has paperwork.

Moved in with her daughter (Call her who breeds other dogs and he was bullied by one of the other dogs.

Was handed to another person (C) two counties away to rehome.

We saw the advert and went to meet him, he was in a bit of a sorry state with chronic infection in his ears and tail, an infected callus, he would cry and scratch all night till he bled, apparently had been like this for TWO YEARS (he's only three!) so C took him to the vets and got him antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Most people who wanted to adopt him wanted to use him to breed or said to C (who wasn't particularly healthy or well off in the first place) that they would take him when she had "fixed his ears". We were happy to take him as is and nurse him back to health.

We purchased him, signed a contract with C (which had B's details on) he had no papework at her place. I was told to chase up A&B to get this.

Have been calling but no answer but they respond to texts, I have offered to send photos and updates.

Cannot take him to obedience classes, get his microchip changed, get pet insurance for him until I have his vaccination records we CAN get him re-vaccinated from scratch but it will cost a fortune to start over.

We have managed to sort out his ears in literally 2 weeks, a bit of medication, switching him to a hypo-allergenic diet (he was on v cheap nasty food which is a no-no for his breed) and some TLC.

Yesterday I received another text saying that they "might have" the papers but A had been ill and not had a chance to look for them yet. B then asked if she and her daughter could "come visit" during half term to see him. Then asked how his ears were.

I've got alarm bells going off in my head, although we have the original advert and a piece of paper signed by C for receipt of money, what's to stop them turning up and trying to take him back now he's all better and cleaned up? Also I don't know what the legal side of things is regarding his microchip as I think it's only registered in Spain, I assume we can't just "change it" from it's current address to read us because that would negate the whole point of the microchip surely?

I know we could start his vaccinations from scratch but we've already paid for medication etc and won't be able to ever get insurance on his ears (Which we expect to cost thousands in the long run) and I really, really don't want the previous owners to come and see him as it's confusing for him but they'll need our address to send us paperwork.

Anybody got any advice, I text back saying that we needed his paperwork and effectively ignored the remark about visiting him. I just want him to all be registered to us so we can look after him and love him like he deserves. Any advice, particularly on making sure he's ours for keeps, would be very much appreciated as well!

Caroline_a

Difficult. So (if I read this right) neither A or B did anything about the state of the dog's health? If that's the case I'd be 'away' for half term, send a picture of (cured) dog's ears, and avoid any other contact with such awful owners.

You're going to have to go through the vaccination thing I would say (who knows if they had it done!) and personally I would re-microchip.

Then enjoy your dog!

StarCrossed

Hiya,

Thanks for your reply. Can you re-microchip though? I was under the impression that once you have one microchip that was the "owner" and that was that unless they re-registered.

Yes, you are right A & B did nothing about the ears and he was in excrutiating pain (we were up with him all night a couple of nights and C, who we got him from, slept for 19 hours after we took him home due to lack of sleep of sitting up with him). I don't know anything about the poor bloody thing other than he's 3ish, don't know when came over, I don't know if he's had kennel cough or anything. I know that they paid a fortune for him and then made him live outside (his breed should never live outside). Bless him he's such a sweetie as well

Gingham_R

Caroline_a wrote: »

Difficult. So (if I read this right) neither A or B did anything about the state of the dog's health? If that's the case I'd be 'away' for half term, send a picture of (cured) dog's ears, and avoid any other contact with such awful owners.

You're going to have to go through the vaccination thing I would say (who knows if they had it done!) and personally I would re-microchip.

Then enjoy your dog!

This.

Personally, after such appalling care, I wouldn't let them near my dog, regardless of whether he once belonged to them.

And I would start again with the vaccinations - you won't see the paperwork and he's at risk if he's not had them.

zzzLazyDaisy

I would start again with the vaccinations. Yes it might be expensive .... but if the vaccinations have lapsed during the time he has been 'in transit' you may still have to start again anyway.

Regarding the micro-chip - I adopted a rescue cat that was micro-chipped but the original owner became allergic and gave him away. I had to fill in a form giving my details and confirming that I accepted full responsibility if the original owner objected to the change of details. This was in England, and the original owner was notified of the change (either they accepted or did not reply, but I never heard any more about it). With your pet's registration being in Spain, I'd have him re-chipped anyway (but that is just my POV, so seek the advice of your vet).

In English law, dogs are property. You have a receipt showing you have paid for him, so he is now your property. The previous owners no longer have any rights, unless the sale agreement specifies some ongoing rights to continued contact.

krlyr

Personally, I wouldn't let them visit - it's sad to rehome a dog, especially if the circumstances are genuine, but the dog is no longer theirs and it can help everyone to enforce a clean break. What if they see the dog and it stirs up feelings that make them want the dog back?
Have you given them your address already? If not, could you use a relative's or work address for the paperwork?

If it were me, I'd just swallow the cost of revaccinations - try shopping around, you're within your rights to register at more than one vet and there are often "clinic" type vets that just do basic procedures like vaccinations or neutering at a reduced cost. Alternatively, hold out for the National Vaccination Amnesty - normally falls around May each year. Participating vets do the full course for the price of a booster. Some vets may do their own discount schemes too so it's worth asking - Google shows one vet doing their own amnesty in January and February this year so you may find a practice locally offering similar. I've been cheeky and asked for a discount for having several rabbits vaccinated at the same time and wangled a discount off the price to have it done at the same time, and been given discount for treatment of rescue pets (I used to do small-scale rehoming of small furries) at my vet's discretion.

With the microchip, I believe you can apply to have the details changed and the company will write a letter to the registered address for permission. If they don't respond then permission is implied and they'll change the details for you. My only concern with this is that you don't mention having spoken to the breeder, just to A and B - does the breeder know what's happened to the dog? Will they be happy to find out it's been passed around without permission? Many breeders have a clause stating they must be contacted or the dog returned if the owner cannot keep it, though they may know/not care, or be happy for you to keep the dog once you demonstrate that you're a responsible owner.

peachyprice

Vaccinations aren't that expensive, you don't need to do the rabies and renew his pet passport if you're not going to be taking him abroad, just the usuals. It's money well spent if it means you don't have to have contact with these people.

Do they already know your address? If not there's no way in the world I would risk giving it to them for the price of new vaccinations.

As for the micro-chip, as it's a Spanish one you may be able to just re-chip him in your name, your vet should know this, give them a call.

StarCrossed

Wow, great advice. Thank you all so much.

Going back to what krlyr said about the breeder, the breeder was in Spain and I haven't seen a shred of paperwork from them or information. Because they are in Spain I would not imagine that it would be enforceable or even aware of the contract.

When we went to get him the woman who rehomed him (C) said she would do a home visit with us and we were happy with that, she then said we could take him straightaway (which she said she had never done before) we have invited her (and only her) to come and see him but she hasn't taken us up on it yet.

I got the impression she had refused to rehome him to a lot of people and she wanted to keep him but couldn't walk him (health issues)

Thanks for the heads up on the Amnesty as well. I will have a chat with the vet and get him re-done and the chip scanned and added.

Thanks everybody

RE: My address, C has my address and phone number but I haven't given it to A or B. I might give them my work address or a relative's address or something instead (obviously with their permission!)

Person_one

Leaving a dog with infected ears for 2 years is unforgivable. Its so cheap and easy to treat, as you now know. One of mine came to me clearly in distress from infections in both ears and barely able to walk because his claws were so long they'd grown into his pads.

I'd make a clean break. Start the vaccinations again, its only about £70 so well worth it.

Do not let these people visit. If you're worried about them kicking up a stink then tell them that you think it would upset the dog too much but send them a picture. Once the microchip details are changed don't respond to any contact, he isn't their dog anymore, he has a fresh start with you. Don't give them your address, why would they need it?

pulliptears

Person_one wrote: »

I'd make a clean break. Start the vaccinations again, its only about £70 so well worth it.

My Westie had his vaccinations lapsed so had to start again, it cost me £35 round these parts

Person_one

pulliptears wrote: »

My Westie had his vaccinations lapsed so had to start again, it cost me £35 round these parts

I know I paid £70 but couldn't remember if that was for one dog or both, must have been for both!